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04/29/05: I often speak to my horse and ask to turn left/right or stop or gallop, etc. and she successfully does what I ask for. Do you suggest I should continue such an exercise or shall I return to the normal/traditional way of training?

04/22/05: How do you make a performance horse more valuable?

04/15/05: Can anyone become a horse whisperer? It inspires me the way that humans can communicate with horses and I would love to do this.

04/08/05: Is there a difference between wild horses and domestic horses in terms of lameness?

04/01/05: My horse won't change leads.

March '05 Ask Monty page >

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Question: I often speak to my horse and ask to turn left/right or stop or gallop, etc. and she successfully does what I ask for. Do you suggest I should continue such an exercise or shall I return to the normal/traditional way of training?

Answer: Horses trained with voice commands are often quite successful in developing a learned vocabulary. It is my opinion that they never know what the words actually mean, but they habituate their response only after repeated requests of a traditional nature prior to responding to the voice. I notice that you are from Hungary, so I assume that you speak Hungarian to your horses, which would mean that I would need to learn that language before they would respond to me.

However, if you were to learn the language Equus, you could communicate to any horse in the world, regardless of which country they were born in. Equus is the natural body language of horses,

I do not suggest that you stop using verbal aids. I say 'whoa' to my horse when I want him to stop and I 'cluck' to him when I ask him to go. These are very similar to the sounds that you are using and I don't suggest that they are wrong. I do, however, recommend, that we couple these with the legs, the reins, and/or the headgear in the training process.

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Question: How do you make a performance horse more valuable?

Answer: I am a firm advocate for never making a horse do anything. But this type of question is often asked of me. The only way that I know to elevate the value of a performance horse is to reach a higher level of excellence or win more competitions. The only way I know how to win more competitions is to reach a higher level of excellence. The only way I know to cause a horse to reach a higher level of excellence is to cause your horse to want to excel; not to try to force him to excel.

Question: Can anyone become a horse whisperer? It inspires me the way that humans can communicate with horses and I would love to do this.

Answer: Everybody and anybody can be a horse whisperer. If you are diligent about learning the language of the horse and practice as much as you can, you can speak with horses and listen to their communications. The language Equus is predictable, discernable, and effective. It can be taught to anyone – as long as they are open to listening and learning.

If you were to come to my farm right now, I could help you to do a Join-Up with a horse within a few hours, and you would be having a conversation with that horse in the round pen. Learning the intricacies will take far longer, it is a lifelong journey to be the best you can, but certainly, anyone, including you, can be a horse whisperer. Please, if this is your goal, study the methods of the top horse trainers and spend as much time with horses as possible – the horses will be your teachers.

We offer a range of lessons and training programs at Flag Is Up Farms, so if you wish to fulfill your desire to become a horse whisperer, please give us a call at 001 805 688 3483.

~Monty

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Question: When you were studying horses in the wild did you ever notice how many of them appeared lame? Was it at all possible to ascertain from where the lameness originated? And were any of the symptoms at all similar to lameness’s that can be detected in trained and ridden horses? Any thoughts on this subject would be very greatly valued. Thanking you in advance for your time and trouble.

Answer:
I don’t consider the answer to this question to be obvious at all. In fact, I regard it as a very good question. Actually, lameness observed in the wild is substantially different in character from lameness observed in domestic ridden horses. Statistics will show that ridden horses will most often be lame from conditions affecting the front legs. These problems will be seen most often in the fetlock joint or the feet of the forelegs. The knees will produce a fair percentage of lameness in the ridden horse. What we are experiencing is pressure-induced damage through concussion and/or twisting motions. Racehorses, for instance, will express lameness on the fore limbs at a rate of approximately 85%. Horses running in the wild will often tend to damage hooves while traveling over stones or rough ground. The feet are obviously never protected by the shoes the domestic horse wears while being ridden, at least in most cases. The wild horse, damaging a foot, will tend to accomplish this in about an equal rate front and rear. I have seen the feet of wild horses actually split in half. The wild horse will also suffer from infections caused by bruising or open wounds while the domestic horse will be medicated most of the time so as to stop down the infection. Abrasions and punctures are far more plentiful on the limbs of horses running wild than they are on our domestic partners. The domestic horse will suffer far more from injuries that tend to be of a concussive nature than those caused by sharp objects. In studying wild horses, one should also bear in mind that in many cases they are survivors of the fittest. We should be aware of the fact that if they had fragile feet with thin walls they would die quickly and not reproduce those shortcomings. When I look at the bottom of a wild horses foot, it is obvious at once that there are significant differences when compared with domestic feet. The walls are thicker, the angle of the foot is steeper, and the sole is akin to the hide of a rhino. Some of these characteristics are due to the physical fact that they are teased and calloused through constant work without protective covering. Young kids in third world countries who run around barefooted can walk over broken glass without a grimace. Most of us who wear good shoes can hardly get around at all when barefooted. It is true that if most of our domestic horses were just turned loose barefooted to survive in the wild, they would have a very difficult time surviving until their feet could stand the rigors of life in the wild. In conclusion, let me say that lameness is substantially different between domestic and wild horses, and I might say that I did an article in Issue I of the 2003 Join-Up Journal called ‘The advantage of going Bare’, which outlines the power of riding barefoot horses so as to improve the quality of the hoof structure. I recommend you try to get a copy of this magazine.

~Monty

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Question: My horse won't change leads.

Answer:

Lead changing both for the horse and for the rider is an art form. Nature provides the horse with an inherent talent to change leads. It is when a person is involved that lead changing problems arise. The weight of a saddle and rider, and more importantly what the person does with that weight, is super-critical to the act of changing leads.

In my show career, lead changing was one of my strongest suits. It is my opinion that the act of changing leads properly should be a free ticket. There should never be a question about getting proper leads because it’s just as easy to get it right.

Obviously, any art form must be learned and there is a specific set of procedures necessary for both the human and the equine student. In my book, From My Hands To Yours, there is an extensive chapter that outlines my concepts where lead changing is concerned. If a reasonably talented rider reads that chapter and executes those recommended maneuvers, it is highly likely that the horse will perform proper lead changes.

~ Monty

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